Provenance signal variations caused by facies and tectonics: Zircon age and heavy mineral evidence from Miocene sand in the north-eastern North Sea Basin

The provenance of the Danish Miocene sands has been deduced from zircon ages and heavy minerals integrated with an existing detailed stratigraphic model of the fluvio-deltaic sand successions that prograded into the North Sea Basin in large delta lobes. The stratigraphic model allowed interpretation of the depositional ages of the samples, which were used to reconstruct the outline of the river pathway system for each time slice. The contribution from individual source areas to a specific position in the Miocene succession was controlled by depositional environment and tectonics. The major rivers each flowed separately to the sea, so mixing between supplies from different sources could only have occurred in the marine environment, where a wave-induced shallow current and a tidally-induced deeper current transported the sediment along the shore in opposite directions. Changes in grain size parameters and mineral assemblages across Denmark showed that the overall sediment transport direction for southern Scandinavia was to the south-west. They also showed that the sediments are immature with regards to transport length, so the high maturity of the heavy mineral suite suggests that kaolinisation has been a widespread phenomenon in the source areas. Rapid uplift and/or extensive denudation may have been revealed by an apparent eastward migration of the dominating provenance area, which was observed in the zircon age data for two consecutive time spans; the early Miocene first tectonic pulse and the intra-early Miocene tectonic phase. Comparison of the zircon age distributions with age markers defined using the published ages of the Scandinavian basement terranes shows that most of the sand came from several Sveconorwegian source areas in south-eastern Norway and south-western Sweden. Contributions from the Svecofennian Orogen, the Caledonian belt and the Oslo Rift are also found and the presence of Archaean zircon grains suggests that contributions to the river systems came from as far away as Finland.     

Higher plant biomarker signatures of Early Eocene sediments of North Eastern India

The biomarkers, molecular fossils of paleobiota, have been studied in detail from a coal-bearing sequence of Early Eocene Lakadong sandstone member of Sylhet Formation of Upper Assam Basin, NE India, using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Corresponding hydrocarbon source potential of the same unit has been studied using Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The Rock-Eval data suggest dominant terrestrial land plant contribution, i.e., Type III kerogen and the sediments of the section had entered the early stage of catagenesis. The alkane and isoprenoid distributions are characterized by odd over even preference (OEP) (1.1–1.2) of n-alkanes and high pristane/phytane ratio (2.9–7.6) which corroborate the Rock-Eval data. The distribution of aliphatic biomarkers is characterized by dominance of C₂₄ tetracyclics over C₂₃ tricyclics, high concentration of des-E hopane, moderate to high C₂₉/C₃₀ hopane ratio, extremely low oleanane index and low C₃₅ homohopane index. The extremely low oleanane index is correlated with a high degree of aromatization of oleanane skeleton, favoured by acidic swampy depositional environment. The presence of diterpanes at the base of the Early Eocene section indicates contribution from gymnosperms (Coniferales order of land plants) whereas angiospermous biomarkers with oleanoid skeleton are also preserved. This pattern subsequently evolved to angiosperm dominated towards the top of the section with no gymnosperm signature indicating possible climatic variation during the Early Eocene. Towards the top of the section presence of bicadinanes indicates contribution of Dipterocarpaceae family of trees and advent of the evergreen tropical rain forest element in eastern India in Early Eocene, similar to the pattern found in western India, e.g., Cambay and Kutch basins.     

泰安市地质灾害预警预报系统研究

主要介绍了泰安市地质灾害气象风险预警与指挥系统。系统开发的主要目的是为了更好的与泰安市地质灾害防治工作相结合,通过对气象因素及地质灾害资料的分析和研究,基于地质灾害气象预警模型,采用先进的GIS技术能实现对地质灾害易发风险性区域预警,能直观地了解到各部分区域的地质灾害易发风险性,为各级政府防灾减灾提供科学的技术支撑。     

Analysing the advantages of high temporal resolution geostationary MSG SEVIRI data compared to Polar Operational Environmental Satellite data for land surface monitoring in Africa

Since 1972, satellite remote sensing of the environment has been dominated by polar-orbiting sensors providing useful data for monitoring the earth's natural resources. However their observation and monitoring capacity are inhibited by daily to monthly looks for any given ground surface which often is obscured by frequent and persistent cloud cover creating large gaps in time series measurements. The launch of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite into geostationary orbit has opened new opportunities for land surface monitoring. The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument on-board MSG with an imaging capability every 15 min which is substantially greater than any temporal resolution that can be obtained from existing Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) systems currently in use for environmental monitoring. Different areas of the African continent were affected by droughts and floods in 2008 caused by periods of abnormally low and high rainfall, respectively. Based on the effectiveness of monitoring these events from Earth Observation (EO) data the current analyses show that the new generation of geostationary remote sensing data can provide higher temporal resolution cloud-free (<5 days) measurements of the environment as compared to existing POES systems. SEVIRI MSG 5-day continental scale composites will enable rapid assessment of environmental conditions and improved early warning of disasters for the African continent such as flooding or droughts. The high temporal resolution geostationary data will complement existing higher spatial resolution polar-orbiting satellite data for various dynamic environmental and natural resource applications of terrestrial ecosystems.     

Onshore-offshore gradient in reductive early diagenesis in coastal marine sediments of the Ria de Vigo, Northwest Iberian Peninsula

Early diagenetic modification of magnetic properties is an important process in marine sediments, but temporal and spatial variability of diagenetic processes have rarely been reported for recent coastal sediments. The magnetic properties of sediments from the Ria de Vigo (NW Spain) define a marked three-part zonation with depth. The uppermost zone is magnetically dominated by (titano-)magnetite. In the intermediate zone, rapid down-core dissolution of (titano-)magnetite increases the relative influence of high-coercivity magnetic minerals, which react more slowly during reductive dissolution than (titano-)magnetite. This zone is characterized by the ubiquitous occurrence of framboidal iron sulphides. Pyrite is the dominant iron sulphide, but framboidal ferrimagnetic greigite is also frequently observed in association with pyrite. The lowermost zone is characterized by an almost complete depletion of magnetic minerals associated with progressive reduction of detrital iron oxides with depth. This zonation is controlled by organic matter diagenesis, which varies with water depth and wave-induced sediment resuspension and organic matter reoxidation in the water column. This leads to a shallowing and thinning of each zone with more intense reductive diagenesis toward the interior of the ria. Such a zonation seems to be a common feature in shallow water marine environments. If preserved, the described zonation and its spatial variability provide a potential tool for detecting estuarine-like environments in the geological record. Magnetic detection of current or past reductive conditions also has important implications for assessing paleoenvironmental proxies that are sensitive to diagenetic redox state.     

全球地震早期预警研究综述

近年来地震预警技术在国际上得到迅速的发展,并有成功预警且收到减灾实效的先例.本文系统介绍了地震早期预警的方法,包括波前探测、P波应用、现地预警和区域预警;介绍了地震早期预警系统在墨西哥、日本、土耳其、中国台湾和罗马尼亚等国家和地区的应用情况.还对地震预警中目前存在的问题和挑战以及远景进行了分析.     

关于“辽宁北票兴隆沟火山岩的野外产状、岩石成因及地质意义”一文的辩正

本文针对"辽宁北票兴隆沟火山岩的野外产状、岩石成因及地质意义"一文对笔者的质疑,阐述了对北票下侏罗统兴隆沟组开展地质调查的经过.结合质疑的问题,从野外地质观察和同位素年代学两个方面展开讨论,并且根据新获得的火山岩202Ma的Ar-Ar年龄,重申辽西北票兴隆沟组的时代属于早侏罗世的结论.     

Late Albian (Early Cretaceous) ammonites from the Provincial Formation of central Cuba

A late Albian ammonite assemblage from the Provincial Formation of Villa Clara Province, Cuba is described. The Provincial Formation is a lithostratigraphic unit of Albian-Cenomanian age extensively exposed in central Cuba and formed within a part of the Caribbean Tethys that was volcanic during the Cretaceous. The formation is mainly composed of calcareous, terrigenous marine, and volcano-sedimentary deposits characterized by a series of micritic limestones intercalated with marls, sandstones, calcareous conglomerates, ash, and tuffaceous material. A rich assemblage of ammonites recovered from the calcareous biomicrites and marls is of late Albian (Stoliczkaia dispar Zone, Mortoniceras rostratum Subzone) age. The ammonite fauna shows a strong Tethyan affinity, and only a single hoplitid ammonite species was recorded. Although scarce, the first Cuban report of this and other boreal ammonite species now allows precise correlations to be made between Cuba and Albian sediments elsewhere in the world.     

江西南部武夷群及其地质时代

江西南部三百山、蔡坊、版石、岩背等火山盆地由长英质火山岩组成,岩石组合与北武夷地区的武夷群一致,可归人武夷群,并可进一步划分出双峰岭和鹅湖岭两个组.错石SHRIMP U-Pb测年结果表明,三百山盆地粗面岩的年龄为142.0±1.0Ma,蔡坊盆地流纹岩的年龄为131.4±1.3Ma,版石盆地围东一带流纹质凝灰岩的年龄为1...     

New Albian macro- and palynoflora from the Negev (Israel) with description of a new gymnosperm morphotaxon

New plant macrofossil localities are found in the middle-upper part of the Albian Upper Hatira Formation of Makhtesh Qatan, an erosion crater in the northern Negev. These are so far the only outcrop localities in the Negev containing plant compressions and well-preserved sporomorphs. Their age assignments are controlled by the ammonite Knemiceras records below and above the plant-bearing sequence in the adjacent Makhtesh Hatira. The macrofossil assemblages are strikingly different in the sandy fluvial and shaly lacustrine facies, the former being dominated by Araucaria, Athrotaxopsis, Brachyphyllum and pinnatifid Sapindopsis, comparable at the plant assemblage and leaf morphological levels to the early to early late Albian assemblage of the North American Potomac flora. The lacustrine shale macrofossil assemblages appear archaic on account of their diverse pteridophyte component and sparse angiosperm remains. A new supposedly gnetophytic genus and species Qataniaria noae Krassilov, gen. et sp. nov. is dominant in the shale horizon. The sporomorph assemblages are strongly dominated by psilate trilete spores (87-93%). In the absence of elaterate forms, the angiosperm pollen Afropollis jardinus, Pennipollis, Tricolpites spp. and Walkeripollis sp. is consistent with the early Albian age. The abundance and diversity of conifers and the prominence of the fern bog assemblage suggest a relatively humid phase of the regional Albian climates.